Throughout the course of the 2017-18 school year, The Argonaut reported on a variety of events, places and people.
Often, the stories that resonate most with our newsroom and our community of readers begin with people. A single person or a group of people making a difference within the University of Idaho community or outside Moscow’s borders is always cause for good reporting — a cause for celebration.
Although each story is different, we noticed a common theme throughout the year. Students of all ages, interests and backgrounds got politically and socially active this year.
From protests to marches and social media campaigns to walkouts, young people all over the country made their voices heard.
Moscow was not left out in this historic year for young people. UI students and Moscow community members showcased their views in a plethora of ways.
The year of protests began, as most protests often do, with controversial government policies. President Donald Trump announced the end of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, prompting the Moscow Human Rights Commission to organize a demonstration. Protestors called for the protection of not just DACA recipients, but all immigrants.
A year after the original 2017 Women’s March, students and community members on all sides of the women’s health rights debate met in Friendship Square last January. This time, however, the Moscow Right-to-Life group organized a march and was met with a counter protest by pro-choice advocates in the square.
The discourse was civil and opened the discussion on women’s health a year after the now-historic first march. According to an Argonaut report, both sides felt the Palouse was a good home for promoting the continued growth of their platforms.
Then, in January, the conversation surrounding women’s health resurfaced with UI students at the forefront when a student group affiliated with Planned Parenthood faced an altercation with Latah County Representative Dan Foreman.
The Planned Parenthood Generation Action group originally intended to meet with local representatives to discuss birth control and health insurance. Instead, they were met with a headline-making altercation.
Although the group did not receive the communication they were looking for, they shed a national light on the outspoken voices belonging to UI.
In late March, as the discussion around gun violence came to a head, protesters around the nation and in Moscow took to the streets. Hundreds of grade school students and college students joined together in East City Park to demonstrate their views on guns and the relationship to all-too-common school shootings.
UI’s Black Student Union also brought gun violence to the forefront of discussion in late March with a march through campus and downtown Moscow. The group marched for the life of Stephon Clark — a man shot by police in his backyard — and to support the injustice against all “people of color, the disabled and those in poverty.”
These marches and protests just skim the issues raised over the last year. And, none of these issues would have been raised without the people involved — a single young person with the courage to stand out and speak up.
As the young people of the Palouse continue to step into the forefront of crucial political and cultural debates, The Argonaut will continue telling the stories that must be told.
We are encouraged by the initiative demonstrated by students this year, and hope their drive and passion surrounding these issues permeate through next year and beyond.
—HS, BH